Episodes
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Danny and Derek welcome to the show journalist and author Robert Wright to talk about the potential and pitfalls of the AI revolution. They discuss how neural networks learn, the differences between predictive and generative AI, machine consciousness, job displacement, the environmental costs of data centers, how capitalism is shaping the AI race, and the need for international regulation.
Read Robert’s new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning.
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It’s been another bad week for Donald Trump – from the Strait or Homuz to the streets where ICE has killed more people, to the scheduled Senate hearings on Todd Blanche. Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: Trump believes the teaching of history really matters—that’s why on July 4 he issued a 162-page attack on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Yale historian Beverly Gage comments – her new book is This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip through US History.
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Graham Platner is withdrawing as the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine after a credible rape allegation was made against him (Platner denies the allegation). I spoke to Maine writer Eoin Higgins about Platner’s rise and fall, the progressive politics that animated his campaign, and the upcoming scramble by the Democratic Party of Maine to find a new candidate.
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Back in May, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas”—a surprisingly forceful call-out of dehumanizing technology, Big Tech oligarchs, and an economic order that casts the few as gods and the many as disposable. To talk about this work (and Aaron’s growing Catholicism-envy, and the utterly pathetic “faith” of J.D. Vance), we invited Matthew Sitman, co-host of the great Know Your Enemy Podcast and official Catholic sage of the erudite left, who walks us through this era of moral leadership from the Catholic Church. This is a good one. We swear, so help us God!
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Danny and Derek’s FIFA officiating careers have been tragically cut short since Javier Milei’s checks started bouncing. In this week’s news: the NATO summit ends on a high note (4:46); in Iran, new fighting erupts as Trump declares the end of the ceasefire (11:59), plus estimates of the war’s cost increase (16:45); in Gaza, Hamas dissolves its government (18:15) as the Board of Peace prepares a “humanitarian zone” (20:29); Trump appears ready to sell Turkey F-35s (23:40); Syria is officially removed from the state sponsors of terrorism list (27:54); in Sudan, civilians flee fighting in El Obeid (29:32); rebels coordinate a new joint offensive in Mali (32:59); the U.S. licenses domestic Patriot missile production in Ukraine (34:17); Roberto Sanchez concedes the Peruvian presidential election (38:07); Colombia’s presidential transition breaks down (39:01); and the U.S. drops the “Indo-Pacific” construct (40:07), prompting strategic discussions on the future of America’s position in the Pacific (43:25).
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Danny and Derek are joined by Jake Nabel, Tombros early career professor of classical studies and assistant professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies at Penn State, to talk about Roman-Parthian relations in antiquity. The group discusses the geopolitical landscape of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, the rise of the Parthian Empire and the Arsacid dynasty following the fall of the Achaemenids and Alexander the Great, and the inherent challenges of relying on Greco-Roman historiography. They also delve into how Iranian and Armenian sources reshape our understanding of the period, the deep cultural misunderstanding between Roman hostage-taking and Parthian cliental fosterage, the cultural barriers preventing intermarriage, and the modern Iranian reception of pre-Islamic empires, including contemporary parallels to Reza Pahlavi.
Read Jake’s book The Arsacids of Rome: Misunderstanding in Roman-Parthian Relations.
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Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland, talks about Congress reforming the Supreme Court, and the House challenging Trump’s corruption. His article in the current issue of The Nation magazine is “We Must Restore Congress as the Predominant Branch of Government.”
Also: John Nichols assesses the Democrats’ Senate candidates in the wake of the replacement of Graham Platner in Maine.
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To celebrate the 250th, we’re looking back at the founding with Tad Stoermer, author of the NYTimes bestseller “A Resistance History of the United States.” Why did the same people who kicked off the American Revolution actively oppose the adoption of the Constitution? Was Rhode Island always a mob state? What can we learn from the musical 1776, starring Mr. Feeny? All this and more on this special 4th (well, 6th) of July episode of Fighting Fascism.
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Danny and Derek are joined by historian Andrew Shankman to talk about the road to US independence from Great Britain. They discuss differences between Spanish and British colonization strategies, the intellectual and philosophical origins of the American Revolution, the Stamp Act crisis, distinctions in racial conceptions between the American colonies and the West Indies, key revolutionary figures, the early American republic, the unique economic situation of Boston and Massachusetts, and post-revolution relations with Britain and indigenous peoples.
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Public ire toward AI keeps growing as the data center boom continues to hit people’s pockets. Chris Person joins Paris Marx to discuss the soaring cost of consumer electronics, including why prices are unlikely to fall anytime soon, and how people can experiment with homespun cyberpunk tech.
Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath and makes Highlight Reel.
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Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East politics and director of the Middle East Studies program at George Washington University, returns to the show to talk about Iran’s nuclear program. The group discusses the Shah’s nuclear agenda, Atoms for Peace, Iran’s signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, how the Iran-Iraq War influenced Iran’s nuclear policy, missed opportunities for diplomacy after 9/11, Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and why Biden didn’t revive the deal, and the recent war with Iran.
Grab a copy of Sina’s book Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question.
And contribute to GiveDirectly's campaign to help survivors of the earthquake in Venezuela.
Note: In lieu of a news episode this week, we will be posting an interview relevant to the holiday.
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Trump biggest losses in the Supreme Court rulings announced this week were on birthright citizenship—widely anticipated—and the voting rights case where the majority ruled states could count ballots mailed but not received by election day. His biggest win was abolishing independent agencies except for the Federal Reserve. David Cole has our analysis—he’s the former legal director of the ACLU.
Also: The Court ended Temporary Protected Status, TPS, for Haitians (and others), but that does not mean deportations will begin immediately. Instead most of those with TPS will be given an opportunity to contest a deportation order or apply for remaining on a different basis. Amy Wilentz comments on the current responses in New York City, Miami, Springfield, Ohio, and in Congress.
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Sara Nelson is the President of the Association of Flight Attendants, and one of the most badass leaders in the labor movement today. But that doesn’t mean we don’t conduct a hard-hitting, critical interview of her. Well, actually, that’s exactly what it means. Hear Sara lay out the challenges and opportunities that unions face right now, and the role of organized labor in fighting fascism. And hear us just kinda fan-boy nod along to everything she says!
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had a very good night on Tuesday: a slate of candidates he endorsed won in Democratic primaries in both state and congressional races. This victory was shared by the Democratic Socialists of America, which is now clearly replacing the old political machines in its ability to get out the vote. Ross Barkan wrote about these elections for The Nation and joins the podcast to tell the story of the rising left in urban America.
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Danny and Derek’s promised ring ceremony regrettably must be relocated from MSG due to a scheduling conflict. In this week’s news: The Iran negotiations show signs of progress (1:26) despite disputes over the agreement (5:20), plus conflicting reports over the status of the Strait of Hormuz* (9:24); Lebanon sees a reduction in fighting and another round of talks (12:31); in Gaza, Israel is targeting children (15:38), plus a Board of Peace update (16:48); Keir Starmer resigns as PM of the UK (18:40); the DPRK/North Korea appears to be back on Trump’s radar (21:18); a battle over El Obeid, Sudan, still looms (22:53); Trump is again angry with NATO and has a spat with Italian PM Meloni (25:07); in Russia-Ukraine, an update on the war (27:40), Poland strips Zelenskyy of an award (30:21), and the Russians are again displeased with Trump (32:40); election updates in Colombia (34:25), Peru (36:08), and Ethiopia (37:27); and Trump unveils the new Air Force One (39:23).
*After the time of recording, the initiative to rescue stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz was paused due to a vessel being attacked.
Check out the replay of Wednesday’s livestream.
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As tech companies race to build hyperscale data centers, communities are coming together to push back. Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines and prompting broader conversations around what infrastructure people want instead.
Saul Levin is a community organizer and host of The Hum.
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Omer Bartov, Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, joins the program to talk about Zionism’s transformation from an emancipation movement into a form of ethno-nationalism. They delve into Zionism’s formation alongside European colonialism, how settler encroachment influenced Palestinian nationalism, comparisons with European settler colonialism, whether Zionism’s “wrong turn” was in the formation of the State of Israel itself, the meaning of “never again,” how the historical memory of the Holocaust is used to justify Israeli expansion, Israel’s lack of a constitution, and liberal Zionism in the United States.
Be sure to get a copy of Omer’s book Israel: What Went Wrong?
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Election protection: defending Ohio’s biggest voter registration group, and blocking Trump’s attacks on voting by mail: Norm Eisen, co-counsel on the first Trump impeachment, comments.
Also: how protest pushed ICE to abandon most of its warehouse detention center plans, and pressured Georgia Republicans to abandon their redistricting plans – John Nichols explains.
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Danny and Derek are in backchannel talks with the reflecting pool algae. In this week’s news: the United States and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding (1:26), which addresses sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, sovereignty, and the nuclear program (6:46); Israel continues its attacks on and occupation of Lebanon despite the MoU dictating otherwise (26:12); Gaza is excluded from the MoU (30:25) as West Bank annexation continues (31:46); in Sudan, RSF forces appear to be preparing for a major battle (34:27); in Ukraine, Russia makes advances (35:58) while Crimea is hit hard (37:26); the G7 is relatively uneventful, but does express support for Ukraine (39:24); the US announces plans for a military drawdown in Europe (41:21); in Peru, Keiko Fujimori leads the vote count in the presidential election (42:57); and a UNAIDS report shows the dire effect of DOGE cuts (44:37).
Check out our episode with Caitlin Tulloch on the fallout from ending USAID.
Join the Discord.
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Cory Doctorow, guy who coined the term enshittification, has been eviscerating Big Tech oligarchs for many years. He’s now turning his razor-sharp mind onto one of our most/least favorite topics: AI. His new book, The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, is in many ways a practical guide for how to resist (actually resist, not just feel-good resist) the biggest financial scam in human history. Cory joins us to discuss what we should be really protesting when we protest AI. (And, at the end, we make sure to touch on his idea that Democrats should start preparing to prosecute the fascists who have so desperately got it coming, a.k.a., the Nuremberg Caucus.)
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